Emmanuel Macron egged at trade fair
French President Emmanuel Macron almost got egg on his face during a visit to a food fair in the town of Bron near Lyon on Monday (local time).
Video footage from the event clearly shows a well-boiled egg bouncing off Mr Macron’s shoulder without breaking, while a protester shouted “Vive la revolution” (long live the revolution).
The egg “bounced off Macron’s shoulder and burst on the floor right in front of me,” Florence Lago, a journalist for French publication Lyon Mag, told CNN.
The 19-year-old who threw the egg at close range was immediately arrested, according to the public prosecutor’s office in Lyon.
The motive for the egging remains unclear but intentional violence against a public official is a crime in France. Lago said she saw the man throw the egg but denied hearing him shout out.
An Elysée Palace spokesperson, who was with Mr Macron, told CNN the incident was being overblown – despite the video footage shot within the crowded fair.
“The President walked around for two hours, he was warmly welcomed and everything was calm. There is nothing to say about it because it did not disrupt his walking around,” the spokesperson said.
“I was next to the President, I can tell you there is no story.”
It is not the first time Mr Macron has been the target of an egging.
In 2017, the then-presidential candidate was pelted with an unboiled egg and came off far worse: The egg broke open on his head.
More recently, Mr Macron was slapped in the face by a protester while on an official visit to Tain-l’Hermitage, a town in southern France.
Bodyguards tackled the offender, who hit the president after shouting “down with Macron” and other royalist battle cries.
Two people were arrested in connection with the slap.
-with AAP